womb
re.chem denotes the maternal place associated with conception, birth, fertility, and the firstborn.
The term most often names the maternal place in contexts of opening or closing fertility, coming forth in birth, and identifying the firstborn; it also supplies source imagery for the dawn and for the sea’s emergence.
Senses in use
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Maternal place of birth and fertility · dominant
The noun occurs where fertility is opened or closed: in Genesis 29:31 the APB renders that Leah's womb was opened, while in 1 Samuel 1:5 it renders that Hannah's was closed. It also marks the point from which a child comes forth in Jeremiah 1:5 and the opening associated with a firstborn in Exodus 13:2.
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Figurative source or emergence · occasional
In Psalm 110:3 the construct form appears in the phrase the APB renders “from the womb of the dawn,” locating the dew in imagery of emergence. In Job 38:8, the APB depicts the sea as bursting forth “from the womb,” extending the same source image beyond human birth.
In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly renders the term with “womb” in fertility, birth, and firstborn clauses, including “opens the womb” and “closed her womb.” It also retains the image in “womb of the dawn” and the sea bursting forth “from the womb”; Its wording does not isolate the term in every occurrence.